LIAM PHILLIPS
SIX rounds into its 12-game
season, Willaston appears a
heavy favourite to make it
back-to-back flags in Barossa,
Light & Gawler Football
Association’s senior women’s
division.
Sitting alone atop the ladder
at 6-0, the Donnybrooks have
held their opponent scoreless
in four games, with Gawler
Central’s 10 points the most
any team has scored against
the reigning premier.
Willaston boasts some of
the best home-grown talent
in the league, with star Dakota
Williams looking like her
footballing career will carry
her much further than the
Barossa, and fellow teenagers
Jessie Sandford and Mia Nolan-
Grigg earning state under-
17 selection.
The youngsters are guided
by Central District gun Lauren
Smith and Shari Chambers,
and the arrival of one of the
SANFL’s best full forwards,
Kaitlyn Rosenzweig, has added
a scoring power that will be
hard to match.
Two teams will think they
have a real chance of challenging
Willaston for the crown,
with Barossa District leading
the ‘best-of-the-rest’ pack at
5-1.
Bulldogs Tiarna Grovermann
and Alana White have
led the way, and along with
a handy batch of SANFL recruits
headlined by Gemma
Doughty and Karissa Searle,
Barossa District has only lost
to Willaston in round one, and
will believe it is a different
side after six weeks of learning
how to play together.
The other contender is
Gawler Central, which has had
such a major talent injection
that it is impossible to write off
against anyone.
SANFL players Shannon
Murphy and Demi Sonneman
were more than handy recruiters
as they helped land a
host of fellow Central District
Bulldogs, while coach Matt
Knight’s connections through
his coaching role at Woodville
West-Torrens helped nab bring
six Eagles to the dog track, including
gun forward Jovanka
Zecevic.
The Tigers also have one of
the most elite teenagers in the
country with Laitiah Huynh,
who played every game for
Central District at 18-yearsold
and is a sure-fire AFL
prospect.
Angaston and Kapunda are
in the next tier down at 2-4, but
both have some extremely talented
players and an even more
exciting future with the level
of juniors coming through.
The Angaston trio of Libby
Fiebiger, Kate Argent-Bowden
and Hayley Henke are all still
in high school while playing
solid senior footy, with Argent-
Bowden representing
South Australia this month in
the under-17 national championships.
Kapunda had some SANFL
talent arrive in the form of Ella
Mickan and Caitlen Teague,
who have stood out with their
speed and class despite being
asked to carry a heavy workload
on a team that is not quite
ready to compete against the
top sides.
With Sophie Eaton and Mikaylah
Antony headlining
a premiership-winning under-
16s juggernaut that is set
to make its way into the senior
side in coming years, the
Bombers are set up for a great
future in its women’s program.
Last is Tanunda, which has
suffered some injuries this season,
including to captain Zoe
Healy who helped guide the
Magpies into the 2020 grand
final.
Yet to win a game, Tanunda
has still received some strong
performances from forward
Jessica Scott and Isabelle
Starmer, and it also has an
exciting junior in the pipeline
with Scarlett Bird-Fidge likely
to dominate the junior ranks
over the next few years.